Improvement in the mode of turning locomotives



UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

GILBERT M. COLE, OF FOLSOM CITY, CALIFORNIA.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 33,294, dated September17, 1 861.

,To a/ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, GILBERT M. COLE, of Folsom City, in the county ofSacramento and State of California, have invented a new and ImprovedMode of Turning Locomotives on Turn-Tables; and I do hereby declare thatthe following is a full and exact description of the said invention,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of thisspecification, in Which- Figure l is a plan of a turn-table illustratingmy said invention. Fig. 2 is a plan of the bed with the table properremoved.

The nature of my invention consists in attaching to the turn-table asmall pair of steam-cylinders C C, Fig. 1, and the accompanyingsteam-chests, whose connecting-rods are to operate the crank-shaft S,which, in con-` nection with the cog-work A and A', will cause the tableto revolve. Steam is to be communicated to said steam -cylinders fromthe locomotive, when on the turn-table ready to be turned, by means of apipe leading from the dome or steam-chamber of the locomotive to pointat the rear end of the locomotive, hich will then be at a central partof the `rn-table and convenient to be attached to ne pipe leading tosaid cylinders at the points P and P. The branch pipes leading from Parf? P to said cylinders uniting are cach fur-` nished with valves at Vand V,so that when steam from the locomotive is thrown into one branchpipe at P the valve V closes andprevents the steam from escaping' at P',and when steam is thrown into the other branch pipe at P the valve Vcloses, confining the steam to the pipe leading to the cylinders, aportion of the branch pipes at P and P being jointed or flexible tofacilitate attaching it to the pipe from the locomotive, one pipe onlybeing required to conduct steam from the locomotive to either of saidbranch pipes, as the locomotive shall go on the turn-table at one end orthe other. By my plan the large segment cog-wheel A is to be cast on theedge of the cast-iron track upon which the wheels of the turn-table rollround, thereby combining two sets of large castings, and is fastened tothe foundation, (see Fig. 3,) the Wheels of the turn-table rollingbetween the dotted lines.

I am informed and believe that the work of turning turn-tables is doneby other power, and principally by 'man-power.

I That I claim is- The application of steam from the locomotive in themanner described to do the Work of turning turn-tables, thereby saving avast amount of labor and time, and in this connection the combination ofthe great segment cog-wheel and the track upon which the wheels of theturn-table roll by casting the said track with the cogs on the edge ofit, thereby dispensing with one heavy set of castings and fastenings,all substantially in the manner and for the purposes set forth.

GILBERT M. COLE.

Attest:

JULIUs JACOBS, B. N. BUGBEY.

